Open Letter: RE: New Patio Licensing Fees, Concerns from Alberta’s Hospitality Industry
March 24, 2026
Mayor Andrew Knack
City of Edmonton
1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2R7
RE: New Patio Licensing Fees, Concerns from Alberta’s Hospitality Industry
Dear Mayor Knack and Members of Council:
On behalf of the Alberta Hospitality Association (AHA), representing over 700 restaurant owners and operators across Alberta, we are writing to express our concern regarding the new patio fee structure recently implemented by the City of Edmonton, and the lack of meaningful consultation with the hospitality industry prior to its introduction.
We understand that a recent motion to reconsider these fees ahead of their April 1 implementation was brought forward and defeated by Council. We are writing to urge Council to revisit that decision, and to offer the perspective of the association that represents the operators most directly affected.
The Fees and Their Timing
Under the new structure, seasonal parklet or street patios will cost approximately $3,700 annually, while year-round patios may cost up to $6,900 per year. These changes were announced and implemented without advance consultation or a meaningful transition period, despite the fact that staffing, inventory, and seasonal operating plans are often finalized months in advance, particularly in a province with as short an outdoor dining season as Alberta.
For many operators, a patio is not a discretionary amenity. It is a critical component of summer revenue planning. Introducing significant new costs without warning, effective immediately, forces operators into an impossible position: absorb costs they hadn’t budgeted for or walk away from patio operations altogether.
What Our Members Are Telling Us
Restaurants consistently operate on thin margins, typically 3–5% pre-tax, and the current environment makes an already-difficult situation more precarious. Nationally, 44% of Canadian restaurants are currently operating at a loss or simply breaking even, up from just 12% in 2019. Our own member surveys across Alberta reflect numbers consistent with that national picture.
The financial strain is real, but so is the erosion of confidence in the relationship between the hospitality sector and municipal government. In a survey of AHA members conducted in advance of the last municipal elections, the number one issue identified by our members was municipal government support and programs for business development. Only 14% of respondents felt their municipal government was supportive of small business.
These fees, introduced without consultation, with no transition period, at a moment when operators are already managing rising costs and recovering pandemic debt, are not consistent with the support our members have been asking for. For an industry whose confidence in municipal government is already fragile, this decision sends exactly the wrong signal.
The Broader Economic Consideration
There is also a broader economic consideration that we would ask Council to weigh carefully. When restaurants struggle or close, municipalities ultimately lose more than a patio fee, they lose property tax revenue, employment opportunities, and the economic activity that restaurants generate for surrounding businesses and neighbourhoods.
Restaurants and patios are a key driver of urban vibrancy. They create foot traffic, support adjacent businesses, and contribute to the public safety and social fabric of city streets. Edmonton has invested meaningfully in strategies to revitalize its downtown core, and the hospitality sector is a central part of what makes that investment worthwhile. Policies that increase the cost of operating these businesses, particularly those in the downtown area, where conditions are often most challenging, risk working against those very objectives.
We would also note that the City of Calgary has chosen to waive patio fees for 2026 in recognition of the pressures facing the hospitality sector. Edmonton’s operators are now being asked to absorb fees that their counterparts in Calgary are not, a competitive disadvantage the City is, in effect, choosing to impose on its own businesses.
Our Request
The Alberta Hospitality Association is calling on Council to act before April 1, 2026. Our position is straightforward: these fees should be eliminated entirely or replaced with a reasonable fee structure developed in genuine consultation with the hospitality industry and consistent with the approach taken by comparable jurisdictions. Other municipalities have recognized that now is not the time to add costs to an already-strained sector. Edmonton should do the same.
Policy decisions that affect operators’ ability to run viable businesses should be made with them, not to them. The hospitality industry has been clear about what it needs from municipal government. This is an opportunity for Edmonton to demonstrate that it is listening.
The Alberta Hospitality Association would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Mayor and Council to discuss this matter further. We are available at your convenience and look forward to being part of a constructive conversation.
Respectfully submitted,
Mona Pinder
Executive Director
Alberta Hospitality Association
ed@albertahospitalityassociation.ca
CC: Members of Edmonton City Council